Farewell to Saturday delivery

It could be the start of a death knell that's being sounded way too late. The U.S. Postal Service is canceling Saturday delivery for everything except certain packages.

For years, the postal service hasn't been nickel-and-diming its customers, but trying to offset falling revenue with a penny increase here and another penny there.

Since the turn of the 21st Century, there have been eight separate increases totaling 13 cents and bringing the current cost of a first-class stamp to 46 cents. Still a bargain, all things considered. However, technology has taken over.

The explosion of email for correspondence and the ability to pay virtually anyone at any time online has been one factor pushing the postal service into obsolescence. The other - and more pressing - issue is a sharp spike in costs for future postal retiree health benefits.

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said the USPS will save $2 billion a year with one less day spent delivering letters, magazines, catalogs, newspapers, advertising circulars and other mail.

Again, way too little and way too late.

The USPS lost a record $15.9 billion for the 2012 fiscal year. By comparison, it lost a total of $17.4 billion between 2009-11. Revenue, which had been almost $75 billion in 2008, has steadily declined and averaged roughly $66.5 billion per year since then.

For all the billions tossed about, the bottom line is the ones most adversely affected by this move are the ones who can't get online, be it due to lack of knowledge or technology. While the information superhighway has been built and many folks are able to access it, there are still many others who rely on the U.S. mail as their lifeline to the outside world.

An older gentleman standing in line at the West Monroe post office on Wednesday spoke out loud to no one in particular on the issue: "No more Saturday delivery. Soon, there won't even be a Pony Express."

With this historic turn of events, the USPS has shown its hand. The business model is broken. If a meaningful solution isn't found, it may not be long before getting a letter goes the way of the telegraph and the Model T.

The editorials in this column represent the opinions of The News-Star's editorial board, composed of President and Publisher David B. Petty, Executive Editor Kathy Spurlock and community representatives Kay Kellogg Katz, Harris Brown and Will Sutton.

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Farewell to Saturday delivery

It could be the start of a death knell that's being sounded way too late. The U.S. Postal Service is canceling Saturday delivery for everything except certain packages.For years, the postal service